In-Stream Temperature Modeling to Evaluate Potential Management Practices along the Speed River, Southern Ontario
Publication: Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges
Abstract
The temperature of the Speed River near the City of Guelph in Southern Ontario is affected by an upstream reservoir, urban runoff, reduced baseflows, in-stream impoundments and development of riparian areas. Mitigating stream temperature increases in this system is desirable because of the direct effects of increased temperature on aquatic organisms but also because of the relationship between stream temperature and dissolved oxygen solubility. Dissolved oxygen levels downstream of the City's wastewater treatment plant are of particular concern despite high levels of treatment at the plant. Identification of other, less costly, means to sustain acceptable dissolved oxygen levels in the Speed River, in conjunction with nutrient control, would be of interest. The Stream Network Temperature Model (SNTEMP) was linked to a hydrologic watershed model (GAWSER) and applied to the study area to obtain preliminary predictions of the effects of various management practices on the thermal regime of the Speed River. A network of stream temperature loggers was used to calibrate the stream temperature model and identify specific locations on which to focus management efforts. Management practices evaluated were increased riparian vegetation, increased flows from an upstream reservoir, removal of existing in-stream impoundments and decreased stream width. Improvement of the performance of the model is desired along with application of a stream temperature model with a finer temporal resolution.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2005 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Apr 26, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.